After months of meetings and countless hours of work, Harmonic has officially rolled out its private beta for artists. As you've probably guessed from the name, this stage is mostly focused on our music-making friends… but fans (curators) still have a really important role to play, so we're here to break down what the artist beta stage means for you.

First off, as you've no doubt already noticed, the Harmonic catalog is still very much a work in progress. In some respects, that's what the artist beta is all about — a time for musicians to be onboarded, upload their releases, and point out any areas that need to be improved before we officially go live. It does, however, make the site less helpful for music discovery in the short term.

For now, if you're here because you're a fan of a Harmonic artist, then please help yourself to anything you haven’t yet purchased — and in the very near future, we expect to feature an expanded array of artists and offerings, some of which will be recommended to you by musicians whose work you already love.

Why Recommendations Matter

Speaking of recommendations, that’s where you come in. Part of what we’re testing here is the idea that music fans are always looking for their next favorite artist, but they don’t trust algorithms to make that connection. Instead, we rely on tips from people we trust: Friends. Loved ones. Older siblings. Cool aunts and uncles. You know the type of person we’re talking about, because you’ve probably discovered some of your favorite artists through well-timed suggestions from people in your own circle. A five-star review from a stranger is fine, but it just doesn’t carry the same weight as someone you know saying “You’ve GOT to hear this.” And with algorithms, you don't even get the opportunity to see what strangers think – it's just an amorphous brain serving you music. We want to promote both sharing with friends AND discovering music through thoughtful recommendations from strangers.

That magic is at the heart of everything Harmonic does, and it all depends on you, the curator.

Just as this is only the beginning of the journey for Harmonic artists, so too is it only the start of what you can expect to see here as a curator. As time goes by, we’ll be adding more utility for you; it’ll take work and patience for this to feel like the community we envision, but it’ll happen, especially if you play an active role in Harmonic’s development.

So what does that mean, exactly? What should curators be doing to help Harmonic grow and improve at this stage?

How to Curate Music on Harmonic

First and most importantly, recommendations are key. During this stage, you’re free to write recommendations for releases you haven’t purchased through Harmonic, so if there’s anything in the catalog that excites you, please take a few minutes to find the words to describe what the music means to you and why. However, if you purchase the release and then write a recommendation, you get extra perks, like a 10% commission on any sale that occurs through your recommendation!

Once you’ve written your recommendation, share it with the world! Whether it’s via social media or more traditional one-to-one conversations, it’ll still help spread the word about Harmonic while testing the effectiveness of everything we’re experimenting with here. More importantly, it’ll help the artist you’re recommending to reach new ears.

What's Coming Next for Curators

In the coming weeks, we'll be rolling out new features for Curators. The primary feature will be the release of Curator Stores. As you recommend more music, you're effectively building out your own digital record store, complete with notes on each release to help others decide what music they might connect with. Below is an example of what a Curator Store will look like. When a visitor clicks on any listed release, it will take them to the curator's recommendation.

We often compare this to staff picks at book stores, with note cards telling potential readers why a given book deserves attention and who would connect with it. This is a great way to surface works that have less mainstream attention and gives the reader a sense of comfort that the time spent with the book will be worthwhile.

With music, we find recommendations help people listen with more intention. If a listener hears a new song via an algorithmic playlist on a streaming platform, they might only give it 5 seconds before deciding whether to skip to the next track. However, if someone listens to a song after reading a curator's recommendation, they'll give the song more consideration and won't be relying only on the opening notes to decide whether to keep listening. This is active listening, and it's a much more effective way to discover music that you wouldn't normally catch on to.

Thank You!

That’s pretty much it, although we’d also love it if you approached your Harmonic experience with a critical eye and gave us feedback. While the next private beta stage will be more focused on the overall site, and should give us more opportunities to add or refine features that benefit curators, this is also a perfect chance to make adjustments beforehand. The more we hear from you, the more we know, and the better Harmonic will be.

Feel free to send any and all feedback to feedback@harmonic.fm